Does Group Prenatal Care Affect Satisfaction And Prenatal Care Utilization in Iranian Pregnant Women?

Abstract

Background: The need to provide high quality prenatal care services, which take account of women's views and specifi­cally address their need for information, support and communication, has been advocated and group prenatal care, had been sug­gested as one of the ways to achieve this objective. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of group versus in­dividual prenatal care on satisfaction and prenatal care use.
Methods: This was a cluster-randomized controlled trial with the health center as the randomization unit that conducted in 2007. Satisfaction was measured through a standardized questionnaire, and the Kotelchuck Adequacy of Prenatal Care Utili­zation Index was used to measure prenatal care utilization.
Results: We recruited 678 women (group prenatal care, (N= 344) and individal prenatal care, (N=334) in the study. Women in group prenatal care model were more satisfied than women in individual prenatal care model in all areas evalu­ated, including information, communication, co-ordination and quality of care. Group care women were significantly more likely to have adequate prenatal care than individual care women were (OR=1.35 95% CI=1.26-1.44).
Conclusions: Group prenatal care was associated with a significant improvement in client satisfaction and prenatal care utili­zation. This model of care has implications for the planning and provision of prenatal services within public health sys­tem, which is moving toward a better quality health care, and increasing use of services